I'm your host, ROCK MELTER. I've been an EVE Online player since BETA. I am what a lot of people in Eve consider a "BITTER VET". I think that title fits me well. I have several accounts in Eve that I use and I am the CEO of the GetCo corporation. I will give you a different view of Eve online IF you can put up with my rants...

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Executive Producer for the second decade of EVE Online

OK, time for a prediction!

In today's Dev blog we hear about CCP Unifex leaving the position of Executive Producer and heading to the mobile division. This does not sound like a promotion to me but what the hell do I know? I'm a miner! So on with the facts that I do know.

The following are CCP Unifex CSM Winter Summit notes starting on page 3. Happy James315? I am quoting things just like you are now. Not to bad for the care bear miner you want to kill right?

"It wasn't until Exodus that Unifex personally felt “we really had a game” but that it was still a game that appealed to hardcore players who could look past the flaws to enjoy the experience. In fact, the hardcore will always look past flaws. Despite that, “we're a different company these days”, one that Unifex describes as finally in a place where they can build to a vision, essentially building the game “the way it should be, not the way circumstances forced it to be”. Pulling this off has required some shifts in focus and procedure, Unifex explained, adding that they're taking the time to write a new roadmap for helping them build EVE through the next decade.""There are some things that I hope never change in EVE – It is a dark game; it is a game of consequences; it is a game of tough choices and social interaction. It is a game of pain; it is a game of joy; it is a game of extreme emotions. I would never change EVE from that. But that doesn't mean that it has to have a spreadsheet UI, it doesn’t mean that EVE has to be what it's been the last 10 years. There are certain things that we need to maintain what EVE needs to be, and if we were to all sit down I think we would find ourselves in violent agreement about what they are.""If we don't have a goal, if we don't have something that is aspirational, there are competitors out there that are going to challenge us. There are players who will say, ‘you know what? You're no longer shooting for the stars’. One of the things that has become clear to me throughout Crucible, Inferno, and Retribution, is that it’s not the way we have done our best expansions."

Now we will switch over the the transcription of the PAX video where he was ranting from the heart and off script. What is the PAX Video you talk about?

Well Jester was on the ball on this one and here is a quote from his blog that gives credit where credit is due.

"So, sirunidan was on-the-ball enough to take pictures of the display
screen at PAX East during CCP Unifex's presentation on what we can
expect from Odyssey. Here's the first six pages. Here's the second six.

Now that you have caught up on the past news I want to center on a few things that BUST CCP Unifex on what he said in the CSM Minutes.

If you go to the 2 minute mark in the video he says:

"eve is not supposed to be a about a place of equilibrium it about people fighting other things"

and at the 5:30 mark he says:

"we don't want to be where we are right now, we want to make a step change".

The fact that CCP did not issue a dividend does of course imply a strong desire to grow (and puts some pressure on CCP to make sure share value does indeed grow appropriately).

So what does this tell you ROCK MELTER?

Here are my thoughts along with my prediction.

First, CCP Seagull is being fully supported by CCP's shareholders on her current tasks as head of product development. Since the summer of rage CCP has learned that if they screw ip it can cost them dearly. This is why they had the layoffs, this is why we have had cut backs in the game and this is something that CCP wants to avoid at all costs.

Second, CCP Can not be subjective. He says in the Retribution was not a good expansion but in the videos he does. He is just like CCP Soundwave in that regard and can never stay on script. There are more but I digress.

Third, he has not done a good job as Executive Producer. From what I understand about corporate life at CCP this is a normal thing for them. You do a job one year, you move to another job the next year, life goes on, have another beer. I do not see it like that. Mobile division? Even with Crest API coming out this is still a demotion.

Fourth, he mentions a little here and a little there that there are going to be changes. Specifically that the next 10 years will be different.

Prediction:

Alliance will run from the bottom up model The days of the GSW State of the Goonion message are going to be limited at first and eventually in a perfect world destroyed.

Moon mining REV2. It worked for POS's right? There are several theories on how this will work. Final implementation will be seen in Odyssey.

Local destabilized in Null to work the same way as the current wormhole mechanic

Finally new corporation UI that will allow all of us Enablers and Instigators that CCP Seagull loves to help CCP make this game that much more of a hook for those that have not played it yet.

I have said it before and I will say it again. I am a LURKER! I am also an enabler and instigator. That is the one group that she needs to understand better :-)